Boulder County: Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells In Residential Areas, Near Elementary School and Seismic Permitting Already Underway

My late mentor Dr. Theo Colborn, Founder and President Emerita of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange once said: 

“Deep inside everyone, there is something bigger and stronger than we are aware of at this time that cannot be suppressed by man-made chemicals... something... that will prompt some very exceptional leadership to step forward with the courage to turn off corporate control of the government and the world -- and take back for society what it needs to thrive.”

Is Boulder County preparing to allow the fracking industry to destroy Boulder County as we once knew it? 

Will Boulder County Commissioners stand up against the oil and gas industry for the health, safety, welfare of our community and environment?  Will Boulder County 'politicians' become desensitized tools of the industry and allow reckless endangerment of hazardous industry to drill next to our homes, forcing the prices of homes to plummet, allowing a myriad of negative impacts on human health, and even Boulder County Open Space to be contaminated?

Will Boulder County 'politicians' become 'public servants' and step forward with courage to turn off corporate control and protect what Boulder County needs to thrive? 

Below is a historic overview of oil and gas activities in Boulder County. I can't help but think of the Firestone home explosion that killed two innocent men and injured others.  Home prices tanked, People could not sell their homes. Children and their parents were afraid to live in their community for fear of another catastrophic event caused by the fracking industry.

Are Boulder County Commissioners prepared to answer the questions I have laid out in this piece?

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Boulder, Colorado: Abandoned oil and gas wells near and under homes.

Linden Avenue: Four abandoned oil & gas wells near or under homes along the foothills. Do the property owners know? Were the abandoned oil and gas wells disclosed to the home buyer upon purchase? Does their insurance company know of these potential hazards?

Linden Drive: 3735 Wild Plum Court Boulder, CO 80304
Abandoned oil and gas well -1936. Maxwell #2 API 013-60015
No mechanical integrity test on record. There are no records indicating flow-line pressure tests were ever conducted.

555 Jack Pine Court Boulder, Colorado 
Abandoned oil and gas well on property - 1936
Maxwell #1 API 013-60014
Status UNKNOWN. No mechanical integrity test on record.
There are no records indicating flow-line pressure tests were ever conducted.

Howard Heuston Park - Trail
Abandoned oil & gas well - 1930 FOSTE #1 API 013-05010
Status UNKNOWN - No mechanical integrity test on record.
There are no records indicating flow-line pressure tests were ever conducted.

Boulder Colorado: Kalmia and 28th Street (top left). Abandoned oil & gas well on property at  'The Boulders Apartments Homes'. Abandoned oil and gas well - 1930

COGCC Inspection form states: "Location ID 379964 with the following well API:013-60011 has no evidence of disturbance based off field observations. Location is now apartment housing. Refer to attached photo in Doc.#682401153"

CLICK TO ENLARGE: 2016 COGCC Inspection report for abandoned oil and
gas well on 'The Boulders Apartment Homes' property.
COGCC states: Abandoned well location is now The Boulder Apartment Homes

The Boulder Apartment Homes Continued: CLICK TO ENLARGE

I have three questions:

1. How does the COGCC inspect an abandoned  oil and gas well they cannot find?

2 . Why is this specific inspection listed as 'PASSED' with no follow-up inspection required thus releasing the operator's bond?'

3. Do the citizens of The Boulders Apartment Homes know of an existing  abandoned oil and gas well on their property which may be a potential danger to their health, safety and welfare?



Creekside Elementary School is located ~100' from an abandoned oil and gas well (date unknown). The name of the abandoned oil and gas well is: Martin #1 API: 013-05003 and in the backyard of 3755 Martin Drive Boulder, CO 80305.

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation (COGCC) documents state: 'Location of well is in residential housing are. Unable to find evidence of oil and gas activities and/or disturbances.'

Inspection passed because there was 'nothing to see here folks.' The deadly explosion in Firestone also did not have evidence of oil and gas activities or disturbances.

3755 Martin Drive Boulder, Colorado location of abandoned oil and gas well. 
~100' from Creekside Elementary School. Abandoned oil and gas well listed as 'plugged' but there are no records at the COGCC confirming the well was in-fact plugged.

Boulder County overview of abandoned oil and gas well locations.

Teal blue areas indicate 'seismic testing'  into Boulder County. Black vertical line indicates Boulder County to the West and Weld County to the East. Red dots indicate oil and gas well locations.

It appears Boulder County Commissioners have given permission to Anadarko Oil and Gas, Extraction Oil and Gas and Encana Oil and Gas to conduct seismic operations, testing the shale before filing for drilling permits. 

Will Boulder County forever become ruin?

Will Boulder County Commissioners take the advice of one of the world's most prominent women in science and humanity and seek the courage to stand on the right side of humanity and history? 

Out with politicians, in with public servants.



Want more data regarding this piece? Please donate.


Source: COGCC/COGIS



.

Dear Boulder County Commissioners

Dear Boulder County Commissioners,

Cindy Domenico, Deb Gardner, Elise Jones:

What can I say?

What can I say that I haven't already said for the last seven years of my life to you, other commissioners, city councils, senators, governors, and hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, media everywhere and the entire United States? I have even told the fracking industry the facts on their oil and gas state of failures. 

I will now re-iterate.

I warned everyone an incident like Firestone would happen. The probability exists that an oil and gas related catastrophe in residential neighborhoods will happen when industry infrastructure and realistic setbacks are not created.  There is no doubt a catastrophic tragedy will happen if Boulder County does not act immediately to pass local laws that protect the “civil rights to safety” of Boulder County citizens and that of the environment  and not favor the oil and gas industry.

Firestone, Colorado home exploded in fireball. Two men died.

I have probably reviewed more than a half million Colorado Oil and Gas documents, I have seen documents that illustrate explosive levels of methane and other gases seeping into dozens of homes that had to be evacuated by the COGCC. I have seen documents that show how the Laramie Fox-Hills Aquifer was contaminated with methane and toluene (a fracking fluid) by a well casing leak. Private water wells all over the state have been contaminated by oil and gas operations. Methane and fluid migrations can travel over one mile in distance.

I have seen thousands of spill reports that showed 17.5% of all fracking industry spills had already caused ground water contamination in a statewide study.  And a staggering 40% of spills contaminated groundwater in Weld County, where Firestone is located. My studies, which are nothing more than the COGCC’s own documents, were confirmed accurate three years later by Matt Lepore, Director of the COGCC. If any company had contaminated groundwater at a 40% rate they would no doubt be shut down.

I have reviewed documents that illustrate numerous homes in Colorado are build right on top of abandoned oil and gas wells and in a few cases, the home exploded due to methane seepage into the basements.  One person was taken to the burn center.

In 2011 the COGCC requested emergency funding in Florence, CO for explosive levels of methane seeping into more than a dozen homes from an abandoned well more than 1,000’ away. The homes had to be immediately evacuated.  For perspective, the home in Firestone was 170’ away from an abandoned well.

According to a Cornell University Study: 60% of well-bores fail after 20 years. Meaning; the structural integrity of wellbores degrade, corrode, crack and fall apart after twenty years.

There are six abandoned wells in Boulder City proper that are over 80 years old that appear to be in homeowner’s backyards or underneath or near occupied homes.  There are nearly one dozen other abandoned wells that exist in the surrounding areas of the City of Boulder.

There is an 80+ year old abandoned well under Valmont reservoir and two abandoned wells the same age on the beaches of the Boulder Reservoir where, >300,000 people visit annually. There is also an abandoned oil and gas well from the 1930’s less than 200’ feet from Creekside Elementary School. Nearly the same distance as the well in Firestone.

BOULDER, COLORADO

On June 12, 2012 I attended a fracking study session in Loveland, Co where I told the Mayor, planning and zoning commission they could create their own setbacks from fracking industry oil and gas wells.  I told them they should locate every active and abandoned well in their city and outlining county and develop new homes away from existing wells in order to protect public health, safety and welfare.

In 2012 I discovered a Setback Loophole and introduced a bill to close it – but the unfortunately, the bill died. COGCC Rule 602(d) states: “Existing wells are exempt from the provisions of these regulations as they relate to the location of the well.” This Setback Loophole allows any ‘completed’ well to be re-entered and re-drilled regardless of proximity to a structure. And home developers are exempt from any state setbacks from oil and gas operations. This appears to be reckless endangerment and must cease and desist immediately.

August 2012 I gave a formal presentation to the COGCC entitled “The Failures of the State of Colorado to Prevent or Mitigate Adverse Impacts to its Citizens and the Environment.”  LINK

The grand loophole of all exists in the COGCC Rules and Regulations. The entirety of the COGCC’s regulations are nothing more than worthless words due to a ‘Waiver Loophole’ that allows any operator to not abide by any rule or regulation regarding oil and gas development and operations that causes them ‘undue financial burden.’

With a single sentence from the oil and gas industry that states “abiding by this rule will cause XYZ Operator and its operations undue financial burden” the industry then does not have to abide by the rule or pay its expense to do so, and is then waived by a simple signature of COGCC  Director Matt Lepore.  This is the 'Comprehensive Waiver Loophole.'  

I lived in Firestone. It was not only a horrific inspiration to launch a full state-wide resistance against the unregulated fracking industry and the State agencies that gave them right of way over public health safety and environment, but it forced me to move to a place that did not have any real immediate danger. I could not protect myself from the inherent dangers of the fracking industry.

FIRESTONE, CO - each red dot = +|- 52 active wells

Our civil rights to safety have been stripped from us by federal exemptions and enforced by state supremacy that is arbitrary and capricious, which appears to recklessly endanger public health safety and environment.

As I've said for years now, this is not an anti-fracking issue, it's a civil rights issue and every single human has the constitutional right to live without obstruction to safety. Facts don’t lie, the oil and gas industry and the COGCC do. I believe Firestone could have been prevented, and I tried like hell to prevent it.

I don’t want to ever come back here and tell you what needs to be done as far as moral and ethical obligations to the people and environment of Boulder County.  You know what to do to protect the people and we are all counting on you to be as courageous as us. Even if you battle the odds and lose, we will still support you for your courage. The best option is to never allow fossil fuel extraction into Boulder County and we are counting on you to protect us.

We are smarter than a fossil fuel and ‘We Are the Energy of Change.’

Shane Davis

May 1, 2017

Boulder County 

Feel free to email the Boulder County Commissioners your thoughts or simply cut and paste the above information.

commissioners@bouldercounty.org

ADDITIONALLY:  In this anti-fracking/civil-right movement, or any other movement, I do not condone acts of violence, rhetoric or any action that is not peaceful and safe. Any person who speaks of acts of violence or conducts such acts, are not an associate of mine and should be held accountable for their actions under the system of fair and just law.

...........

East Boulder County United to Submit Lafayette Community Rights Act to Ban Oil and Gas Extraction

For Immediate Release:

East Boulder County United to Submit Lafayette Community Rights Act to Ban Oil and Gas Extraction

Contact:
Cliff Willmeng (303) 478 – 6613
Merrily Mazza (720) 556 – 1286
Rick Casey (303) 345 – 8893

Where: 1290 S. Public Road, Lafayette Colorado, Lafayette City Hall
When: Tuesday, July 9, 11:00 am
What: Press Conference and Rally

East Boulder County United will conclude its petition and signature drive on Tuesday, July 9th, and submit the Lafayette Community Rights Act officially to the City of Lafayette. The Act will create a community Bill of Rights that will explicitly legislate our community’s right to a safe environment and self-determination, and will ban the extraction of oil and gas, and the disposal of associated waste products within Lafayette city limits. East Boulder County United maintains that modern oil and gas extraction is an inherently dangerous process, and that the rights and safety of our community are superior to the private interests of the oil and gas industry.

Approximately 2000 Lafayette voters signed the ballot initiative--more than double the required signatures required to place the Lafayette Community Rights Act to a direct vote of the community.

After one year of research, education and organizing, it has become clear that modern oil and gas extraction, through its use of hydraulic fracturing, would fundamentally alter the quality of life, property values, community well-being, and public health and safety of Lafayette. East Boulder County United believes that these issues are the highest priorities within any community, and that the people of Lafayette have a fundamental right to determine our future without threat of industrial trespass.

East Boulder County United sees the effort to protect the people and environment of Lafayette from oil and gas extraction as part of the larger movement throughout Colorado to reestablish the superiority of community rights over corporate interests. We explicitly endorse the initiatives in Broomfield, Loveland, and Fort Collins to overcome the threats of the oil and gas industry assert public health and safety as the highest community objective.

East Boulder County United will now begin the campaign to educate our community further on the dangers of oil and gas extraction and advance the discussion of community versus corporate rights. We invite all community members, professional organizations, churches, and local businesses to join us in this effort.

WAKE THE #FRACK UP BOULDER, YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE FRACKED PART II - MAPS

CLICK ON MAPS TO ENLARGE

NOTE: Please review the legend on the  left side of the maps for map info

WAKE THE #FRACK UP BOULDER COLORADO! YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE FRACKED BY ENCANA!

Wake up Boulder!  There are no local force fields or bubbles that can protect you any longer from the oil and gas industry. You must wake the #frack up, get informed, and take action to protect Boulder Colorado from the  unregulated toxic oil and gas industry. 

My great grandparents, who homesteaded in Boulder, would crawl out of the local Boulder Cemetery and kick your ass for not protecting Boulder's natural environment and culture. 

The city council and county commissioners were elected to protect you and the environment from adverse impacts. They are not! They are waning on the side of Governor Hickenlooper's threat of a lawsuit and his #fracking agenda. If the elected officials of Boulder County cannot protect you, you must take action into your own hands and force them to use 'your' tax dollars to protect your ways of life to include; clean air, clean water and land.  

Take Boulder back from corrupt politicians. Dismantle corrupt systems, and bring back the rights of communities and that of the natural world. It's up to YOU!  RESIST - DO NOT COMPLY!

Below are current statistics to inform you on oil and gas activities in Boulder County.
...............................................................................


784 WELLS OF ALL STATUSES (11/24/2012)


169 – (AL) ABANDONED OIL AND GAS LOCATIONS  (WELLS ARE STILL THERE BTW AWAITING RE-ENTRY AND RE- DRILLING)

108 – (DA) DEAD AND ABANDONED OIL AND GAS WELLS (POSE SIGNIFICANT THREAT FROM SEEPING AND WELL-BORE FAILURE RATES)

14 – (DG) CURRENTLY BEING DRILLED 

141 – (PA) PLUGGED AND ABANDONED OIL AND GAS WELLS (POSE SIGNIFICANT THREAT FROM SEEPING AND WELL-BORE FAILURE RATES) MANY ARE IN RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES AND HOMES MAY HAVE BEEN BUILT ON TOP OF THE OIL AND GAS WELL. SOME HOMES HAVE EXPLODED AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HARMED

306 – (PR) PRODUCING/ACTIVE OIL AND GAS WELLS (EACH CONDENSATE TANK RELEASES 2 TONS OF TOXIC HYDROCARBON VAPORS PER YEAR)

2 - (SI) SHUT IN – LIKE A ‘PAUSE BUTTON’ ON PRODUCTION -NORMALLY WAITING FOR PRICES TO INCREASE BEFORE TURNING THE SWITCH BACK ON

1 - (TA) TEMPORARILY ABANDONED

4 – (UN) UNKNOWN STATUS – I’M ALWAYS AMUSED THAT THE STATE DOES NOT KNOW THE STATUS OF A WELL

38 –(XX) WELL LOCATION 

99 - HISTORIC TOXIC WASTE EVAPORATION PITS (ALL ABANDONED AT THIS TIME. SOME NEAR OR UNDER RESIDENTIAL HOMES)
..........................................


WHAT'S TO COME?

**56 NEW APPROVED PERMITS ALL FROM ENCANA! ** 2 ARE HORIZONTAL

24 NEWLY APPROVED LOCATION PERMITS - 5 ARE NEW DRILLING LOCATIONS BUT 19 ARE RE-ENTRIES/RE-DRILLING OF HISTORIC WELLS. 

Remember I listed Boulder County has 109 historic wells? All 109 historic wells have the potential of being re-entered and re-drilled with new toxic technologies. Old well-bores pose a significantly high risk of failure. 

Aggregation of well bores create enormous fugitive emission venting that is currently allowed under the Clean Air Act. Toxic chemicals will be released surrounding Boulder County in a brown cloud as seen daily in Weld County. Weld County is home to 19,000 active oil and gas wells and carries a failed history to prevent adverse impacts.

Weld County currently has:

- 646 public complaints on file at COGCC

- 3,974 Alleged oil and gas operator violations

- 1,772 toxic fluid spills/releases 43% have contaminated groundwater with chemicals such  as benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene and many more hazardous chemicals.

- Up to 824,600 gallons of oil (carcinogenic hydrocarbons)  have been spilled and “unrecovered” in Weld County.

- Up to 383,600 gallons of produced water (toxic industrial waste)  has been spilled and “unrecovered” in Weld County.

- Up to 547,400 gallons of “Other” fluid has been spilled and “unrecovered in Weld County.  (“Other” may include toxic fracking fluids.)

To quote the Mayor of Loveland during a 'tour de frac' in Weld County: "We don't have to allow that to happen," he said. "We will not allow that to happen."

Please review Dr. Colborn's groundbreaking AIR MANUSCRIPT where she captured the toxic chemicals that are released from the oil and gas industry. Shocking! Alarming! INHUMANE! are a few words that come to mind.

WAKE THE #FRACK UP BOULDER COLORADO!

You are not impervious, you are not immune, you are about to be a victim of a 'System of Oppression', the Corporate State of Colorado, all happily approved by your local elected officials unless YOU do something.

What can you do? Stay informed as to what the local Boulder fractivist groups are doing. Join the local groups. Attend all city council and county commissioner meetings and speak out against fracking in Boulder. Attend a rally. Get a twitter account and know real-time what is happening. Whatever your capacity and talents are, they are very much needed.

Contact me: @fractivist (on twitter) or fractivist@gmail.com or @COFrackAttack to get involved immediately and to stay up to date on local events.

The first image below is a historic 'toxic produced water pit' in Boulder County. It appears to be under a residential home - link to official COGCC docx

click images to enlarge

P.S. ENCANA IS COMING -  HERE ARE THEIR CO STATS VIA THE COGCC DATABASE

ENCANA  * 46 reported Spills

44.0% GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION

4.0% SURFACE WATER CONTAMINATION

61.0% BERMS FAILED

ALL DATA SOURCED BY THE COGCC

Ban Fracking Rally - Nov 13th Boulder County Courthouse

“Ban Fracking" Rally

WHEN: Tuesday, November 13^th
TIME: 3:00 – 4:00 pm
WHERE: In front of the Boulder County Courthouse
(14^th and Pearl) - 1325 Pearl Street

Bring your own signs or join us for a sign-making party on Nov. 12^th at 7:00 pm at Unity Church in Boulder. (Note: signs are not allowed in the hearing room. )

FRACTIVIST WILL HAVE FREE STICKERS AND POSSIBLY A FEW EXTRA FRACTIVIST T-SHIRTS TO WEAR.

They can make you put down your signs, but they cannot make you take off your t-shirt.  WEAR YOUR VOICE!

Shane

click images to enlarge

mini fractivistas and Daryl Hannah

23rd Annual Bioneers Emergence - Nov 9-11th Boulder CO

November 9-11, 2012

University of Colorado at Boulder

"Bioneers is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future genera tions."

The CU Environmental Center, Transition Colorado, Naropa University, Center for Resource Conservation,  Restorative Leadership Institute,Boulder's Best Organics and Woodbine Ecology Center with the support of sponsors and partner groups are proud to bring Bioneers to Boulder for the tenth year.

The Colorado Bioneers companion event creates community opportunities for sharing, learning and action, and brings together the region's progressive ideas, people and organizations. The event features a broadcast of the national Bioneers plenaries and is locally enriched with:  music and arts; networking, children's eco-activities; field trips, and sessions, workshops and keynotes addressing topics of regional importance and community solutions.

Follow Colorado Bioneers on FACEBOOK